The Importance of Planning

To put it nicely, I have been put with a dyad teacher that doesn’t necessarily believe in ‘planning’. This has been a little bit of a struggle for my dyad partner and myself simply because as students aspiring to become teachers, it would be nice to see how things are properly done. However, I have learned the importance of planning through seeing the lack of it. I realize that as the years roll by teachers become less and less elaborate with their lesson plans but without a plan and a goal in mind, the classroom seems to lose purpose and structure. I have watched this classroom spend an entire period working on other homework because my teacher had nothing planned. I have watched dance parties happen, nonstop computer games and a 2 hour gossip session occur all due to the lack of planning. I understand that planning takes time, that teachers aren’t paid great and that ‘winging’ it can be very tempting. However, we are dealing with students lives here and to not have a higher purpose for what you are doing is very disturbing to me.

I think that this was a very valuable lesson for me to learn. Just like any other job, teaching can become tedious and teachers can become burned out. I can only hope that by seeing the effects of a teacher who does not plan it will help me when I get to the point where I might not want to plan either. Teachers must have a greater purpose for what they’re doing. These kids are smart and they catch on to a class that has no structure. I think the biggest lesson I have learned through this experience is that no matter what happens you cannot go into a day of teaching like you would a waitressing job. I hope I can always remember why I teach and never lose sight of my greater purpose.